CULTURE-CENTERED COUNSELING SKILLS AS A PREVENTIVE STRATEGY FOR COLLEGE HEALTH-SERVICES

All learning occurs in a cultural context. Successful counseling can b e achieved by training healthcare providers to interpret behaviors in their cultural context. The author describes a culture-centered approa ch, using a cultural grid that matches same/different behaviors with s ame/different expectations. Clients with shared positive expectations may display dissonant and apparently negative behaviors. Culturally ac curate knowledge and culturally appropriate skills provide a three-lev el developmental sequence for more accurate and more appropriate healt hcare guidance in such multicultural settings as those met on the coll ege campus.